


Family Reunions

by greatveiledbear



Category: Phineas and Ferb
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Family Fluff, Ocelots are a better family than Doofenshmirtzes, Past Child Abuse, Self-Doubt, unrealistic animal behavior
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-26
Updated: 2017-11-26
Packaged: 2019-02-06 23:47:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,095
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12828720
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/greatveiledbear/pseuds/greatveiledbear
Summary: The Doofenshmirtz Family Reunion will go on fine without Heinz. He has another family to visit, and this one actually likes him.





	Family Reunions

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you wanted 4000 words of ocelots because here's 4000 words of ocelots.

The Doofenshmirtz Family Reunion is in full swing in the ballroom of the Gimmelshtump Hotel, a relatively new business which sits at the edge of the Drusselstein Forest. Music _untz-untz-untz_ es from the DJ booth, and all the Doofenshmirtz relatives, save those with homework in other countries to attend to, are having a wonderful time. Well, almost all of them. 

Heinz’s fingernails dig deep into his hands as he storms out of the Gimmelshtump Hotel. Music leaks out of the ballroom behind him; the reunion will go on without the family’s least popular member. There’s an ache behind Heinz’s eyes and in his throat, one he always thinks he’s outgrown until his family shows up again. 

How can they still make him this angry, this frustrated? Why does he still want to lash out and scream and _prove_ he’s worth their attention after forty-seven years of neglect? Nothing will make them see him as anything but a waste of space, someone who should be relegated back to being a lawn gnome. Heinz has spent years telling himself they aren’t right, that he is more than his lackluster kickball skills and his failed inators and his string of broken relationships. He has to keep telling himself that, thriving on spite and bitterness so he doesn’t collapse under the weight of it all. He has to believe he is worth something. 

It gets a little harder every time he sees them. 

The worst part is that they want to pretend it never happened. Especially his mother. _"Oh, Heinz, why aren’t you and Roger better friends? Why do you never come to visit me? Why can’t you move on?"_

“I don’t know, Mom, maybe because forty-seven years of neglect and abuse isn’t something I can just move on from!” he says out loud, gesticulating with his hands. “Maybe because I never earned your love and you want me to be okay with that! Maybe because you never even said you were _sorry!_ ” 

He stops, breathing hard, and finally looks around. He’s somehow walked pretty far into the Drusselstein Forest and he’s mildly surprised. Rage must have quickened his pace for him to be so far from the hotel. 

“Great, and now a bear is going to eat me,” he says, more annoyed than afraid. He’s never been afraid of the forest. He throws out his hands. “Maybe that’s all I’m good for, bear food. Come on, bears! Have at me! At least then I’ll be doing something useful!” 

A bird sings and then flutters away. A squirrel chitters from a nearby tree. Bears are conspicuously absent. 

Heinz sighs and slumps, lowering his hands. 

And then something hits him hard in the back, knocking him off his feet. 

Heinz yelps as he hits the ground, twigs and oak leaves stinging his outstretched palms. The thing that used his back as a springboard lands in front of him with a thump, and he looks up and meets the eyes of a very excited ocelot. 

_Heinz! You’re back!_ she says, purring with joy.

Heinz scrambles to his hands and knees, his eyes widening. “ _Berry?_ ” he says aloud before remembering she can’t understand English and repeating himself in ocelot. Ocelot is a mostly visual language, and Heinz has to gesture with his hands to make up for his missing tail and whiskers and static ears. 

_Of course! Glad you remember me after so long away._ Berry bounds forward and bumps her forehead against his, headbutting him until he pets her. 

_As if I could forget my favorite sister,_ says Heinz in ocelot, smiling and scratching her chin. Her eyes narrow happily and she purrs, arching into his hands. As the only member of the ocelot family with the ability to give chin scratches, Heinz has always been extremely popular. 

_You’d better not let Fern see you say I’m your favorite sister,_ says Berry, twitching her tail. _It’s so good to see you again!_

 _You too!_ Heinz frowns as he remembers something. _But what are you doing here? Didn’t you find your own territory years ago?_

 _Of course! But I came back to show Mom the kittens._ Berry sits up straight, her ears swiveling forward. _Oh! I can introduce you to the kittens too!_

“Oh my gosh!” Heinz says in English, and then, _Kittens? I’m an uncle!_ in ocelot.

 _Yes! They’re three months old and absolutely perfect._ Berry turns and flicks her tail. _Follow me and I’ll show you!_

 

***

The journey to the den is fairly short, since their mother’s territory is closer to the human civilization than most. 

_Fern and Juniper and Sprout are visiting too, and Aunt Redleaf is here, of course,_ Berry tells him on the way, and Heinz’s heart beats a little faster. It sounds like the ocelots are having their own family reunion. This one, he’s actually looking forward to. 

He starts to recognize things as they approach the den. There’s the log where Juniper caught his first thrush, and the tree Heinz had to help Fern down from when she was just a baby, and Aunt Redleaf’s favorite rock to sun herself on, and there’s the hollow where Heinz and his littermates play-fought each other and learned to crouch and pounce, and where Heinz supervised his younger siblings and watched over them in later years, when he was too big to play. There’s the river they drank from where Fern once caught a trout, and there’s--

He stops at the edge of the clearing. The den is just a few paces forward, and all the memories are rushing back. 

_Come on!_ calls Berry, bounding past him, and he follows. 

_Mom! Everyone! Heinz is back!_ Berry yowls, and Heinz is knocked over for the second time that day as he suddenly receives four ocelots to the chest. Purring fills his ears, and he giggles helplessly as rough tongues tickle his face and paws knead against his front. He opens his eyes and sees his little brother Sprout’s face a few inches from him.

 _Heinz! You’re home!_ Sprout purrs, kneading his claws into Heinz’s sweater. Heinz barely has time to say _hello_ before a spotted blur knocks Sprout off and their aunt Redleaf is headbutting Heinz upright, batting at him with her paws. She’s starting to go grey around the muzzle and tail, old but sprightly, and surprisingly strong for her age. 

_Look at you!_ she says with dismay, glancing him up and down. _You’re thin as a stick! What **have** those humans been feeding you?_

_No, no, I’m okay, I’m actually kind of flabby,_ says Heinz, and then he jumps as something brushes his elbow. It’s his younger sister Fern, slim and beautiful, twining against him and purring with all her might. He pets her and she somehow purrs even louder. Something swats at the back of his head and Heinz turns to see his littermate Juniper, who plants a paw on his shoulder and licks his nose. 

_Bet you still can’t beat me at wrestling even though you’re tall now,_ he says, and Heinz laughs. 

_I bet you’re right,_ he tells Juniper. It’s strange--he could never admit defeat to Roger, but with Juniper it comes easily. Maybe it’s because they both know Heinz is a terrible wrestler, and they also both know he’s much smarter than big, burly Juniper, and Juniper is perfectly okay with that. He never rubbed his physical prowess in Heinz’s face, and even when they were competing there was an edge of laughter to it, a lack of any real stakes that made it fun. 

Juniper’s tail twitches as he sees something over Heinz’s shoulder, and Heinz turns around. 

There are more ocelots in the clearing than he realized. Two kits huddle near the entrance to the shallow hollow of the den, clearly suspicious of the human in their midst. And padding over the forest floor is a stately ocelot with grey in her muzzle and love in her eyes. 

_Mom,_ says Heinz, a lump in his throat. 

His siblings back away as their mother approaches, giving her space. She has a slight limp in her left hind leg, and Heinz wonders where it came from. He can hear her purring from halfway across the clearing, and as soon as she’s close enough she pulls his face down with her front paws and bumps her forehead against his. 

_It’s so good to have you home,_ she purrs, and Heinz swallows back tears.

 _I missed you guys,_ he says after a minute, and his mother licks his cheek. 

_We missed you too,_ she says. 

She lets go of his face and Heinz laughs and rubs his eyes. His heart is overflowing with love. He can’t believe he hasn’t come back before now. He didn’t realize how much he missed his mom and his aunt and his siblings until he was with them again.

He looks up and sees Berry herding the two kits across the clearing. _It’s okay, it’s just your uncle Heinz,_ she tells them. _He’s a different kind of human. He’s nice. Heinz, these are Pinecone and Vine._ She nudges Pinecone forward. Vine is a little bolder, sniffing at Heinz cautiously before twitching her tail in greeting. 

_That’s going to get confusing,_ Heinz comments, since their mother’s name is also Vine. He smiles at his niece and nephew. _Hi, kids!_

The kittens stare at him blankly and Heinz realizes they don’t understand him. It’s hard to speak ocelot without a tail and whiskers and moveable ears, and it’s hard to understand someone compensating for those things if you’ve never seen it before. He looks helplessly at Berry and she translates his greeting. Heinz pulls a bit of string out of his pocket and dangles it in front of the kittens until Vine makes a leap for it, and soon he’s got them engaged in a lively game of Catch the String. 

_They’re beautiful,_ he tells Berry as Pinecone tackles his sister and yanks the string right out of Heinz’s hands. They tumble into Juniper and he leaps up, mock-offended. 

Berry twitches her tail happily. _I know, right?_

_I’m so proud of them,_ says Heinz’s mother. She looks around the clearing and purrs. _I’m so proud of all of you._

***

It turns out the family gathering is mostly unplanned. Berry, of course, is there to show off her kits to Vine the Elder. Fern and Sprout are both still childless and decided to visit a few days ago on a whim, and Juniper is staying with his mother for a while before setting out to look for new territory. Human construction has disrupted his previous home. 

_I can get rid of them for you,_ Heinz offers, trying to remember if he still has the Destruct-inator, but Juniper turns him down.

 _The prey has already run off,_ he says. _But thanks._

Not much has changed for Aunt Redleaf and the elder Vine. The two have lived near to each other since Heinz, Berry, and Juniper were kits. It’s an unusual situation for normally territorial ocelots, but Redleaf is deaf in one ear and Vine likes being close to her sister. Vine has never been the most typical ocelot. For one thing, she raised a human. 

_Is the hotel causing any problems?_ Heinz asks, but Redleaf twitches her ears no. 

_It’s not close enough to be loud, and the humans are too scared of the forest to venture this far in,_ says Vine. _We’re doing fine here. It’s been a good year, and we have enough prey to support everyone here for a few days._

 _Sprout and I are leaving tomorrow,_ says Fern. _We both live to the west. You should visit some time._

_I’d like that,_ says Heinz, and wonders if this is what family is supposed to feel like. No ignoring people, no mean comments, just warmth and friendly conversation and mostly good memories. 

***

After a few hours of catching up and reminiscing, Juniper, Sprout, and Fern rouse themselves and set out to hunt. Heinz insists that they not get anything for him. _Save the prey for the actual ocelots here,_ he says. _Raw meat makes me nauseous anyway._

Redleaf glares at him. _But Heinz! You’re so thin, you need some meat on those bones!_

 _I’ll eat when I get back to the hotel,_ Heinz promises, smiling and shaking his head. _Trust me. It’s been too long since I was an ocelot._

 _All those weird human vegetables can’t be healthy. You’re not leaving until you eat at least a mouse,_ says Redleaf, getting up and padding away. _I’ll catch one for you, and you **will** eat it._

Heinz chuckles and lets her go. He can probably handle a mouse. 

Berry’s kits are napping near the den, and she goes over and curls up with her paws under her body, watching them. 

_Come into the sun and let me groom you,_ says Vine, padding into a patch of afternoon light.

Heinz sighs. _Mom, I’m too old to be groomed._

 _You’re never too old to be groomed_ , she says firmly, and Heinz ends up curled in the sunlight with his mother trying to smooth down his hair. 

_You’re so human now,_ she says with a hint of pride and regret. _I’m glad you still remember us._

Heinz winces guiltily. _I’m actually here to visit my human family,_ he admits. 

_Ah._ Vine pauses her grooming and gives him a piercing look. _And how did it go?_

_Not well._

She purrs thoughtfully.

 _I know you would have told me so,_ says Heinz, a little bitterly. _You think they’re horrible and I shouldn’t have anything to do with them. But they’re my family. I have to try—_

 _I didn’t say anything of the kind,_ she cuts him off.

He sighs and looks away. _I think they love me less every year._

 _I will never understand your human family,_ Vine says sharply. _You were never a strong kit, but you were **smart**. You were always so clever and good, and you helped so much with the younger litters. They had a lot to be proud of in you._

Heinz closes his eyes and lets the praise wash over him. For a moment there are only the sounds of the forest and he can pretend he’s really an ocelot. 

He opens his eyes. _Mom? Why did you make me go back to them?_

Vine stops grooming her son and sits up. _Is that what you think? That I made you go back?_

 _I don’t know what to think._ Heinz gestures helplessly. _All I remember is one day I was here helping you with Sprout and his littermates, and the next I was back with my parents and Mother was knitting dresses for the girl she thought Roger would be. I don’t remember in between._ He shakes his head. _Didn’t I do something wrong? Didn’t I get too old? I’ve always assumed I left because you didn’t want me any more. That's how it always is._

 _Oh, Heinz_ , Vine says. 

_I know I was with you for longer than you thought I would be, humans grow slower than ocelots, and it wasn’t fair to ask you to—_

_Heinz._ She stops him with a paw on his arm. _I never asked you to leave. I didn’t discourage you, because I thought it was what you wanted. But I never kicked you out._

Heinz blinks. _But then why—_

 _You wanted so badly to be with your parents._ Her eyes are sad. _You were so curious about where you came from that I helped you find them, and as soon as you knew who they were you loved them. You watched over them from the forest. When they fell on hard times, you got that job at the carnival and left them your earnings to help them. You tried to be like them—you wore clothes you found in the garbage, you ate with a knife and fork. You always wanted to be with them, Heinz, and you finally decided to go back for good when you found out they were going to have another child. You have always loved them so wholly and so ferociously it amazes me._ Her tail lashes angrily. _You never could see how little they deserved you._

Heinz’s eyes sting a little at the thought of being undeserved. Being wanted. 

_If you had thought you belonged here, if you had said this was your home, I would have let you stay as long as you needed,_ says Vine, her green eyes serious. _I would have fought for you, Heinz. But ultimately you were never meant to be caught between two worlds, and even though it broke my heart, I thought it was for the best when you returned to the humans. I’m so sorry I was wrong._

Heinz swallows around the lump in his throat. For a moment, he wishes he had never left his ocelot family, the family who’d loved him and valued him and welcomed him back with warmth and affection. But if he’d stayed with them he never would have met Charlene, and he wouldn’t give up the experience of being Vanessa’s father for anything in the world, not even this. 

_You weren’t wrong,_ he tells Vine, wiping his eyes. _I mean, my childhood was pretty awful. But going back was for the best. I have a daughter now and she’s the most wonderful person in the world._

 _A daughter?_ Vine sits up straight, ears pricked with interest. _Heinz! Why didn’t you tell me I have a granddaughter? Is she here? Can I meet her?_

 _No, she’s back home,_ says Heinz. _She had..._ He hesitates, unsure of how to explain homework to an ocelot. _She had things to do,_ he finishes. _But I’ll bring her to visit soon if you want._

 _I would love that,_ purrs Vine. _I can’t wait to meet her._

 _The good news is, I have pictures!_ Heinz gets out his phone and pulls up his folder of Vanessa photos. _Here she is with her friends,_ he says, holding it up to Vine. The picture is one of Vanessa leaving against Johnny’s arm, with several other teens in punk clothes posing behind them. _That one's her,_ he adds, pointing.

Vine lets out a noise of amusement. _She looks more like a panther than an ocelot._

Heinz laughs out loud and flips through several more photos. Vanessa’s birthday… a day in the park… _Oh, here she is with Norm,_ he says as he comes across the picture. Vanessa poses in the foreground, arms crossed, and Norm waves happily behind her. 

Vine’s ears twitch. _Norm?_

 _Norm is--well, he’d say he’s my son but he’s not._

_Ah,_ says Vine wryly. _Like you are not my son?_

 _No, no! It’s more complicated than that._ Heinz struggles to articulate the concept of a robot in ocelot. _He’s more like a… I built him to be a machine, like a car, but then he developed a mind of his own and decided I was his father._

Vine looks at him for a long moment. _I will never understand human technology. But he sounds lovely. I can’t wait to meet him too._

_He’s not really my son,_ Heinz reiterates, and then he stops, struck by the sudden thought that he sounds like his father. He tries to push the thought away. _I--I guess I could bring him too, though,_ he adds guiltily. 

Vine gives him a long look, noticing the change in his demeanor.

Heinz stares at his hands. _Am I-- Mom?_

_Yes?_

_Do you think someone who comes from a family of bad people has to be a bad person too?_

Vine tilts her head. _A bad person, or a bad parent?_

_Both?_

_No._ Her tail twitches. _But it takes a conscious choice to break away. The fact that you asked me that means you’re off to a good start._

_I think it’s too late for a good start,_ says Heinz, rubbing his eyes. 

_Then apologize and do better,_ says Vine. _That’s all you can do._

 

***

Heinz had forgotten how gross raw mouse is. 

He eats most of it and manages a weak smile at Aunt Redleaf, who looks proud. _See? I told you it would do you good. Make you sleek and strong!_

 _I’ll definitely keep that in mind,_ says Heinz, glancing at the sky. It’s dusk, and shadows are falling fast. His heart twists. _I should probably get back before it’s too dark,_ he says reluctantly. 

_You probably should,_ Vine agrees, her ears drooping. She gets up from the remains of her meal and rubs herself against him. _Come back soon, Heinz. I want to meet your kits._

 _I will,_ he promises, scratching her behind the ears. She lets out an appreciative purr and licks his forehead before backing away to let his siblings say goodbye. 

_Come visit me!_ orders Fern as she headbutts him. _Sprout and I are to the west, remember? You have to come visit soon!_

 _Yeah, you have to promise._ Sprout rubs his cheek against Heinz’s sweater, scent-marking him. _There’s a really good tree I know you’ll love and I want to climb it with you._

 _I will, I will,_ Heinz promises, laughing as he pets them. He startles at the paws on his back and almost falls over when Berry hoists herself onto his shoulder. 

_My kits will never forgive you if you don’t come back and play with the string some more,_ she tells him, licking his cheek. _So you’d better come visit me too._

 _I will. I can’t wait to see them again._ Heinz scratches her chin and braces himself so she doesn’t knock him over when she jumps down. 

He looks to Juniper, who twitches his tail. _No need to say goodbye yet, bro. I’m walking you home._

_Fair enough,_ says Heinz, getting to his feet. He’s a little stiff from sitting most of the afternoon. He gives his mother one last long look and she blinks at him slowly, her eyes full of love and pride. 

_Be safe, and happy,_ she tells him. 

Heinz nods. _I will._

 _Don’t let him get lost, Juniper!_ calls Berry, and Heinz rolls his eyes at her and glares good-naturedly. Juniper purrs with amusement and the brothers head out as Berry starts to tell her kittens the story of the time Heinz got lost for a whole afternoon before Berry found him only a mouse’s run from the den. 

Heinz and Juniper walk through the forest in peaceful silence, the only noise the birds and the soft crunching of Heinz’s shoes in the underbrush. They’re almost back at the hotel when Heinz realizes he’s alone. 

_Juniper?_ he meows, looking around. His heart pangs a little. Maybe Juniper decided it was easier not to say goodbye. 

Heinz sighs and gives himself a little shake, preparing to re-enter the world of humans, and then Juniper catapults out of a tree and knocks him off his feet. 

They tumble over the forest floor, wrestling with claws sheathed until Juniper manages to pin Heinz to a log. 

_Gotcha!_

Heinz laughs and shoves him off. _I’ll get you next time, you wait and see,_ he says, more out of habit than challenge. 

_Sure you will,_ teases Juniper. _Too bad I’ve learned to avoid your traps._

 _Don’t be so sure. I’ve come up with a lot of new ones._ Heinz ruffles his brother’s fur affectionately and looks to the edge of the woods with a sigh. 

Juniper glances at him. _Don’t you want to go back?_

_It’s… nice being where people like me._

_We’ll always be here if you want to visit._ Juniper butts his head against Heinz’s shoulder. _Well, I won’t. But Mom will, and she’ll tell you where to find the rest of us. You’re welcome any time._

Heinz climbs to his feet and dusts himself off. Then he kneels and pulls Juniper into a hug. 

_You’re a really good brother, you know that?_

_I learned from the best,_ Juniper purrs, and Heinz hugs his brother a little tighter before letting go. 

_Well, back to humanity, I guess,_ he says unenthusiastically. 

_Do you need me to maul anyone?_ Juniper asks. 

Heinz shakes his head. _I’m just going to leave early and avoid the next one. But thanks for the offer._ He gets to his feet and smiles. _See you soon, Juniper._

 _You better,_ says Juniper. He turns and disappears into the forest. 

Heinz sighs and squares his shoulders. He is loved. He is wanted. And he can visit his home again soon. 

He walks back to the world of humans with a full heart.

**Author's Note:**

> Comment and I'll love you forever <3 
> 
> Let me know if I missed any /s or messed up the italics and I'll fix it. 
> 
> I'm on tumblr as greatveiledbear or greatveiledfanbear. Come say hi!


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